The presenter of Inside Nature's Giants (Channel 4), Mark Evans, is in a helicopter, flying low over the waves off the coast of South Africa, shouting to be heard over the whirring rotas. Why? Because this is a shark show. And a shark show requires a helicopter, that's the rule. Soon he'll be using the phrase "fearsome predator" because that's rule number two – yup there it is, in his very first utterance: "Fearsome predator . . . right at the top of the food chain." I was going to mention something about food chains and apex killers, but Mark's got there first. And they'll show that bit where a shark jumps out of the water and plays head tennis with a baby seal before swallowing it whole . . . yup, correct, check.

This shark show's a little different, though, because we're going inside the fish — in the way that an unfortunate surfer does, only more anatomically. It's that dissection programme, back for another series.

A great white shark, so impressive alive, is something quite different when it's hanging on the dock: limp, crumpled and very dead, with its stomach hanging out of its mouth. Ha, not so scary now, are you? Who's the fearsome apex predator now then? Dur dum dur dum . . . not.

It is a totally fascinating creature, perfect for cutting up because of its amazing box of anatomical tricks.There's the stomach thing for one – it actually vomits out its own stomach when it swallows something it can't digest (surfers can be quite unpalatable) or when it's stressed. And it has a liver the size of Wales, which keeps it afloat, a sort of internal life jacket. Plus that amazing skin – smooth one way, rough the other, and actually made up of millions of tiny teeth. "If you should be in a position to stroke a shark . . ." begins Richard Dawkins. Hardly ever actually, Richard, to be honest: I think I'll leave that to you. God-hating shark petter.

Then there are the proper teeth, the big ones at the front, row after row of them, so that if one falls out there's another right behind to take its place. Like a cohort of Roman legionaries advancing into battle. They fall out pretty easily, too, because they're loose. Who knew that – that great white sharks had wobbly teeth? Or that they don't even have a particularly strong bite, nothing compared to a crocodile? They're basically just big sea puppies. No wonder Dawkins likes stroking them. And most of those attacked survive to tell the story.

In fact, apparently more people are killed by toasters! That's something worth thinking about. Maybe there's a whole movie franchise in it, sponsored by Dualit. Toast 2, just when you thought it was safe to go back in the kitchen . . . dur dum, dur dum, dur dum dum dum dum dum dum. And then it pops up – it could even be triangular toast, to look a bit like a shark's fin.

Or maybe this is a ridiculous statistic, and toasters aren't more dangerous than great white sharks – it's just that there are more of them out there, and that people have more interaction with them. I mean, guess which one I had an encounter with (and survived, happily) just this morning, in my own kitchen? See what I'm saying? Mmmm . . . great white with marmalade.

Anyway, apart from shark cliches, and the odd dodgy stat, and the effort to persuade us that sharks are cute (which just doesn't sit happily next to all this evidence of how they've evolved into these super-efficient killing machines) this was a fascinating programme. I never would have thought that dissection could be so much fun. And so much better on TV than being there, because I bet that dead shark, and all its insides, doesn't half stink.

We're still in South Africa for Who is Nelson Mandela? (BBC3) Hang on, I think I know this one: anti-apartheid activist, spent a long time in prison, negotiated multi-racial democracy after his release, became president, cameoed in the Spice Girls. Into long walks, freedom, truth, reconciliation, all that, and quite possibly the most famous person in the world . . . yes, right again! So I guess this is just a little refresher course, ahead of the World Cup. Or for kids who are too young to remember. And nice Lenora Crichlow, the ghost in Being Human, ties him in with her dad, who was also an activist, and went to prison. She gets to go to South Africa, where she cries a lot.